Frontend (Storefront)

  • Stencil Framework: BigCommerce’s own theme engine for storefront development.
  • Handlebars.js: Used within Stencil for templating.
  • JavaScript and jQuery: Commonly used in themes for dynamic behavior.
  • React (Optional): Developers can build custom storefronts using React via BigCommerce’s Storefront API.
  • GraphQL Storefront API: Allows for building headless storefronts.

🧠 Backend

  • Programming Language: Primarily built in Perl and PHP (legacy), but newer systems and microservices are in Java, Node.js, and Go.
  • Microservices Architecture: Uses microservices for scalability and modularity.
  • APIs:
    • REST APIs: For core commerce functions.
    • GraphQL API: For more efficient data queries.
    • Webhook support: For real-time data sync with third-party tools.

☁️ Infrastructure / Hosting

  • Cloud-Based SaaS Platform: Hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for high availability and scalability.
  • Kubernetes: Likely used for container orchestration (given modern microservices architecture).
  • CDN: Uses Fastly and Cloudflare for global content delivery and performance optimization.

🛒 Checkout

  • Optimized One-Page Checkout: Customizable via JavaScript SDK.
  • Checkout SDK: JavaScript library to customize the checkout experience.
  • Support for custom checkout via APIs for headless implementations.

🛠️ Developer Tools & Ecosystem

  • BigCommerce CLI: For local development with Stencil.
  • BigDesign: BigCommerce’s React component library for building admin apps and custom interfaces.
  • App Framework: Developers can build and deploy apps via their API and App Store.

📊 Analytics & Monitoring

  • Integrated analytics tools via BigCommerce dashboard.
  • Integration capabilities with external tools like Google Analytics, Segment, etc.

User Experience
Ecommerce
B2B